We make life complicated…including following Christ

So, hello there, my name is Melinda and I specialize in making a mountain out of a molehill. And if this were a group meeting, this is where everyone would greet me back with, “Welcome Melinda.”

Now, that may have been slightly funny (I was amused), but it’s even more true. Many of us are card-carrying, financially-active, fully-dedicated members of “Team Do Too Much.” Some of our activities include, but are certainly not limited to (because if they were limited, that wouldn’t be doing too much):

-Overthinking all scenarios; both real and imagined

-Developing the world’s best plan for something, but then never executing it because one detail isn’t right

-Obsessing over one (perceived) stupid thing said…12 years ago

-Making seemingly small life tasks into life or death situations (darn you Target $1 bins)

-Being equipped with way more than enough information in most instances, but still refusing to make an actual move

-Procrastinating due to any of the above reasons

If any of the above criteria match any section of your life, you too are a member of “Team Do Too Much.” Welcome. If it helps in anyway, there are a BUNCH of us on this team; and most of us are still trying to figure out how we even joined. But nevertheless, we’re here and hopefully by the end of this post, several of us will choose to quit the team.

I think I have said before that I can be a bit of a procrastinator and that was never truer than this week. To catch you up to speed, I finished graduate school nearly five years ago at this point and have moved on into my career. Well, what I did not do in that time was file some final paperwork that would have solidified credentials that I may or may not need in the future (I probably will though). What did I do instead? I procrastinated for five years, until the absolute last possible day before my information would expire and the credentials would no longer be a possibility.

Y’all. FIVE. YEARS.

Jokingly, I said that this was peak procrastination and that I’m retiring after this fiasco. But more accurately described, this is what peak anxiety looks like.

-Was I missing any qualifications? Nope, but I was convinced I was unqualified.

-Was there any reason why I shouldn’t be considered? Nope, but I decided I didn’t deserve a seat at the table.

-Was there some kind of loophole that would have excluded just me? Nope, but I was doing the most.

Even though this particular story surrounds a career move, it isn’t too far off base from how many of us view our relationship with Christ; and moreover, how we view ourselves as “Christians.” (We’ll get to why I used those quotation marks a little later) Don’t believe me? Just keep reading.

We make life complicated sometimes. In doing so, not even Jesus is off limits from our overthinking, overanalyzing, and overreacting. We spend so much time trying to justify to ourselves (and others) about how we’re capable to even be called “Christian.” In our heads, we start going down the list of all the reasons why no one would ever listen to us. And let’s be honest, a lot of these reasons are valid because we can be ratchet people.

So, what do we do next? We start coming up with the ultimate plan to be presentable. To whom, I’m not sure; but we have a plan though. We say we’re going to spend an hour praying every day, we’re going to read the whole Bible in a month, we’re going to journal every scripture that stands out, we’re going to get on a donkey and start healing those with leprosy in the countryside. Now, that last one was an exaggeration, but not by much. My point is, we start trying to earn the right to be called “Christian” instead of actually being Christian.

-We create “Christian” qualifications that never existed, when grace is what actually saved us. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

-We deem ourselves unworthy and unlovable, when we can never be separated from God’s love. (Romans 8:38-39)

-We somehow think we’re the exception to the rule, when it’s written all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13; Acts 2:21)

And I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, all means all, y’all!

So, instead of trying to create more steps to be accepted as “Christian,” just take one step and be a Christ follower.

What does that even mean???? I got you!

Take everything one thought, one action and one statement at a time. If that one thought, action, or statement followed Christ? Keep going in that direction. If it didn’t follow Christ, make adjustments (sooner, not later).